New Jersey pols push anti-bullying law

In the wake of the firing of Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice, two members of Congress from New Jersey are renewing their call for passage of an anti-bullying law named after a student from the same school.

Democrats Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Rush Holt say the bill would require schools to address bullying not only from other students, but also from faculty and coaches.

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“This incident shows us that physical and emotional abuse of college students by faculty is occurring right under our noses,” the two lawmakers said in a statement. “Rutgers made the right decision by finally firing Mike Rice for his deplorable actions and homophobic slurs, but more needs to be done to make sure this type of abuse is stopped and a strong code of conduct protecting students from such harassment is enforced.”

Rice was fired on Wednesday after video surfaced of him berating players, including throwing balls at their heads and using derogatory terms that have been described as homophobic, sexist and abusive.

The anti-bullying bill is named after Tyler Clementi, a student at the Rutgers Piscataway campus who committed suicide in 2010 when he jumped off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate videotaped him embracing another male student. The roommatee, Dharun Ravi, was convicted of invasion of privacy and other crimes related to the secret taping, and served 20 days in jail.

Clementi’s suicide, which made national headlines, invigorated a push to pass anti-bullying laws, including one enacted in New Jersey the next year.